How Students’ Perceptions of Assignments that Help Them Learn Can Inform Course Design Decisions

Abstract

The assessments that instructors choose to implement suggest to students where they should focus their study efforts and can thus be leveraged to engage students in learning. However, engagement is also influenced by students’ perceptions of the inherent learning value of the assessments. These perceptions should therefore be taken into account when designing assessments. Our center for teaching and learning surveyed students at a large Canadian research-intensive university to learn about their perceptions of assignments that help them learn. The goal of the investigation was to gather information that could be used to inform course design decision-making and thus improve students’ learning experience. A thematic analysis of the 106 responses received indicate that students perceive assignments to be helpful when they are hands-on, involve problem solving, have real-world application, and allow flexibility. Through a content analysis, we identified 91 (86%) of the assignments as involving higher order thinking and 14 (13%) lower order. We also identified 29 (27%) of the responses as involving the adoption of values and attitudes. While a more nuanced approach to planning assessments is needed than just doing what students say helps them learn, our students’ responses provided local examples that our instructors and other course/instructional designers can draw on to plan relevant and meaningful assessments to support students with achieving course learning outcomes.

Keywords

• assessment
• course design
• student engagement
• student perceptions